Windows Essentials

Blog with Writer, manage email with Mail, and more

Download now
Windows Essentials

Windows Essentials is a suite of products available in one easy download. Get them all at once, or choose just the ones you want.

Mail

Manage multiple email accounts, calendars, and your contacts, even when you're offline.

Family Safety

Help keep your kids safe online.

Writer

Create stunning blog posts in minutes, with photos, videos, maps, and more. Then publish them to any of your favorite blog service providers.

Microsoft SkyDrive

With SkyDrive installed on all your computers, you'll have automatic access to the latest version of your files wherever you are. Learn more

Messenger has moved to Skype

Windows Live Mail

You can add all your email accounts to Windows Live Mail. It's as easy as typing in an email address and password, and then following a few steps. Once your email accounts have been added, organize your conversations. Here's how to do all this in Mail.

Add an email account

In your Mail inbox, click Accounts and then click Email. Type your email address, password, and display name, and then click Next. If you want to add more accounts, click Add another email account.

Note

Note

  • You might have to contact your email service provider to finish setting up your email account.


Picture of the Add your email accounts dialog box in Windows Live Mail Send and receive email from other accounts in Windows Live Mail.

Send lots of photos

Send high-resolution photos to family and friends with Windows Live Mail. They can then easily find, view, and download your photos. Since the photos are stored on SkyDrive, nobody's inbox gets overloaded.

In your Windows Live Mail inbox, on the Home tab, click Photo email. Choose the photos you want to add to your email message, and then type a name for your album.

Type the email addresses of the people you want to share your photos with. Click Format, and then click Album privacy to decide who can see your photos. By default, only those people you send the photo email message to will be able to see your pictures. Next, just click Send.

Note

Note

  • Microsoft may limit the number of files that each user can upload to a SkyDrive album each month.

Picture of a photo email message in Windows Live MailWindows Live Mail photo email message.

Organize conversations

To turn conversation view on or off in Mail, click the View tab, click Conversations, and then click On or Off.

Picture of a group of messages when conversation view is onTurn conversations on to see messages grouped by subject.

To expand or collapse a conversation, in the message list, select a message that has a triangle next to it. To show or hide all of the messages in a conversation, click the triangle next to the message or click Expand/collapse.

Picture of a group of messages when a conversation is expanded Click the triangle next to the message or Expand/collapse to show or hide the messages in a conversation.

Add events to your calendar from your inbox

You can add reminders for events and other special days to Windows Live Calendar quickly and conveniently right from your Windows Live Mail inbox. Just type your event name in the calendar pane and it will show up immediately. Then, double-click your event to add a location or other details.

Picture of the calendar pane in the Mail inboxCalendar pane in your inbox.

Windows Live Writer

Here's how to set up your blog, create blog posts, and add photos, videos, and maps to tell your story. Writer works with many popular blog service providers such as WordPress, Blogger, and TypePad.

Create a new blog and add it to Writer

If you don't already have a blog, click Add blog account, and then click Create a new blog. Next, follow a few steps to go to the WordPress website and create your blog. After you create your blog, click the Set up in Writer button on the website. This will automatically set up Writer for you.

Add a blog that you already have

If you already have a blog account, click Add blog account, and then follow the steps to set up your blog in Writer.

Picture of the Add a blog dialog box in Windows Live WriterAdd your blog in just a few steps.

Give your post a title

Type a title for your post where it says Enter a post title.

Picture of a title in Windows Live WriterType a title for your post.

Start writing your story

Type your story in the post window. If you want to format the text, use the commands in the ribbon. Create headings by using the options in the HTML styles group. Change the style of a font by using the options in the Font group.

Picture of text in the post window in Windows Live WriterSimply write your story by typing in the post window.

Add photos

Click Picture, and then click to add a single picture from your PC or the web, or a thumbnail preview of photos from an album on Windows Live SkyDrive. After you choose the pictures that you want to add, they'll appear in your post.

Picture of a thumbnail preview of photos from an album on Windows  SkyDriveThumbnail preview of photos in a blog post.

Add online videos

Open a web browser and find a link to a video that you want to display from a popular video service such as YouTube, Dailymotion, and Metacafe. Just copy and paste the link in the post, and a video preview will appear automatically.

Picture of a video preview in a blog post in Windows Live WriterVideo preview in a blog post.

Add a Bing map

When you know the location you want to add, click the Insert tab, and then click Map. In the Find location box, type an address or location, and then press Enter.

Picture of the Bing Map dialog box in Windows Live WriterType an address or location.

To choose the kind of map that you want, click the drop-down list, click Road, Aerial, or Bird's eye, and then click Insert.

Picture of a Bing Map in Bird's eye view in Windows Live WriterChoose Road, Aerial, or Bird's eye view for your map.